Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
NAEYC Standard:
STANDARD 2. BUILDING FAMILY AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that successful early
childhood education depends upon partnerships with childrens families and communities. They
a) know about, understand, and value the importance and complex characteristics of childrens
families and communities. They use this understanding to b) create respectful, reciprocal
relationships that support and empower families, and c) to involve all families in their childrens
development and learning. (NAEYC, 2010)

Brief Description of Evidence:

As a part of my ECED 204 Families in Transition course during the fall semester of
2014, I worked collaboratively with a group of peers to create a fictional family. We played the
game of Life drawing cards to play out how our familys lives functioned. Each groups family
was a different family structure with different rewards and challenges involved. Each group
presented their familys stories through the method of their choice.

Analysis of What I Learned:

Through this project, I learned the value of partnerships with each child and his/her family. I
learned to always be understanding of every familys complex characteristics. This has taught me
the importance of family involvement on a childs learning. This means that a parents
involvement will show positive effects on a childs self-esteem and development. On a personal
level, this project made me realize how blessed I am with the life I was given. This empowers me
to give more and be a support system for the children and their families in my future classroom.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the

NAEYC Standard:
Through this project I demonstrate my competence by my ability to create respectful, reciprocal
relationships with the families in my class room by my willingness to involve and communicate
with every students family. I prove this by my understanding that every family has its own
structure and ways to make that structure type work for them. With this in mind, patience and
understanding are characteristics I will show in my classroom. I understand the importance of
family involvement and how it benefits the childs learning in accordance to Robert Coles theory
of role models and moral development. This theory connects with my philosophy of positive
guidance.